Jonny Kwan

Creative Director, Walt Disney, Inc.

Kwan was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Oxnard. He has been drawing for as long as he can remember. While attending Channel Islands High School, his art teacher, Mr. Don Burrows, encouraged him to further develop his abilities.

Art took a sideline when the artist had to halt his education to run his parents’ restaurant. Several years later, in a chance meeting at the restaurant, Mr. Burrows strongly emphasized the need for Kwan to get back into art or he might regret it later. After taking all the art classes he could at Ventura College, he enrolled in the Art Center College of Design at Pasadena and graduated with a BA majoring in illustration/advertising. In his own words: “I gave myself five years to succeed, or it was back to the restaurant business.”

Through contacts at Art Center, he landed his first job illustrating video covers and later, drawings for movie poster designs. After a series of freelance jobs, Disney Studios became one of his major clients. The vice president of creative services gave him his first “big” assignment – a series of graphic posters for Disney’s movie Dick Tracy.

Kwan’s career in the entertainment industry included everything from poster design and illustration, sketching, logo design, promotional campaigns and art direction. Some of his other film projects include: Men In Black, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Anastasia, The Prince of Egypt, Star Wars, Finding Nemo and many others. The artist states, “It is a great field to work in, because I am able to constantly learn and improve upon my work.”

Kwan was documented in August, 2003. The archives contains extensive information about this artist.